Basketball Intelligence For 7/2/25
The day's best news and reporting.
*FEATURE OF THE DAY*
Revisiting the Jordan Years We Pretend Didn’t Happen
Neil Paine, Neil’s Substack
FREE AGENCY: DAY 2
NBA free agency winners and losers: Rockets going big; Bucks going nowhere
Ben Golliver, The Washington Post
2025 NBA Free Agency: Top 10 free agents still available
Kurt Helin, NBC Sports
Winners, Losers, and Luke Kornet
Paul Flannery, Hoopology
Blazers couldn’t abide Deandre Ayton’s ‘bad ways.’ Will former No. 1 pick find a fit?
Jason Quick. The Athletic
And for as much as the Blazers tried to compliment Ayton for being supportive of 2024 lottery pick Donovan Clingan, doesn’t it speak volumes that they are paying him millions to stay away from their young centers — Clingan and 2025 first-round pick Yang Hansen? It’s not like Portland is averse to paying someone $35 million to mentor; they just traded for veteran Jrue Holiday, who has even more remaining money remaining on his contract, for what is presumably a mentorship-type role with point guard Scoot Henderson.
NBA 2025 Free Agency: July 1 Recap
Luke Adams, Hoops Rumors
2025 Free Agency Day 3: Time goes by so slowly; courting Lillard; Kuminga saga and Horford saga linger on
Eric Apricot, Dub Nation HQ
NBA free agency 2025: Bucks shock everyone, plus grades, head-scratchers from Day 2
Zach Harper, The Athletic
NBA News and Rumor Roundup 7/1/2025
Jacob Sutton, JSutt Hoops
The Bucks will never give up
Tom Ziller, Good Morning It’s Basketball
The hottest and freshest NBA free agency and trade talk
The People’s Insider, The Stein Line
NBA free agency 2025 tracker, live updates: Bucks waiving Damian Lillard, will sign Myles Turner
The Athletic NBA Staff, The Athletic
TEAM NEWS
ATL: Hawks’ rapid rebuild around Trae Young comes full circle, so is he still Atlanta’s future?
Jared Weiss, The Athletic
Atlanta can roll out a lineup of Young, Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher (last year’s No. 1 pick), Johnson and Porziņģis on opening night. Coming off the bench will be Onyeka Okongwu, who showed some impressive development when he was promoted to the starting lineup last season; Alexander-Walker; Kennard; last week’s 23rd pick, big Asa Newell; 2023 15th pick Kobe Bufkin at backup point guard; hybrid defensive big Mouhamed Gueye and spark plug shooter Vit Krejcii.
ATL: Grading every major Atlanta move from the draft and free agency
Wesley Morton, Peachtree Hoops
BOS: Celtics rookies' first day in Boston featured Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and much more
Noa Dalzell, Celtics Blog
CLE: The Cavaliers failed Isaac Okoro
Corey Walsh, Fear The Sword
DAL: NBA Trade / Free Agency Rumors: Would LeBron James Really Abandon Lakers for Mavs?
Dalton Trigg, Mavs Step Back
DAL: Mavs Free Agency: Dallas Gets Good Value in D'Angelo Russell Signing
Dalton Trigg, Mavs Step Back
DAL: Mavericks' Texas rivals prepare for battle to the death with aggressive signings
Noah Weber, The Smoking Cuban
DEN: How the Nuggets reloaded and escaped salary-cap hell in the first 24 hours of NBA free agency
James Herbert, CBS Sports
DET: Draft-er Math: Chaz Lanier as a Detroit Piston
Stephen Gillaspie, No Ceilings
GSW: Draymond Green and the Razor’s Edge of Beef
Logan Murdock, The Ringer
IND: Leaning Into It
Dustin Dopirak, Indianaoplis Star
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